Jules & Rom

In 2040 artificial intelligence poses a growing challenge to society. Kerry Tracker, a newly qualified teacher is appointed to oversee a US high school production of Romeo & Juliet for end of year open day. It's a tall order, the 10th grade kids in the cast previously caused an emotional meltdown in the android teacher originally assigned to the task. Making the situation worse, the 15 year old ringleader of the rebels is the daughter of the man whose company supplies all the AI resources in the school. Things move from difficult to sinister when a suspicious death takes place in the school. As special agent Floyd Linton from Homeland Security pursues the investigation into what happened, the drama group continue to rehearse and the play s story of young love and social division unfolds against a background of political intrigue and global conflict. Jules & Rom defies simple categorisation: while undoubtedly science-fiction it s set in too near a future to offer the more typical dystopian scenario. It s also a detective story, but again, atypical of that genre. While the central focus is on AI, this is also an exploration of emotional intelligence and at its heart s core are both human beings and androids discovering themselves in the process of putting on Shakespeare s timeless masterpiece. Pete Mullineaux's new novel is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in the past year. It features a cast of fully-formed and meticulously drawn characters convincingly developed within an entertaining, thought-provoking, and always engaging narrative. It effectively combines a very believable science-fiction scenario with illuminating insights into theatre and theatre practice. Jules & Rom shines a fresh and innovative light on one of Shakespeare's finest plays, re-imagined to have contemporary resonance and impact in an age of AI and challenges to humanity such as war and catastrophic climate change. Dr Sean Crosson: BA, MPhil, PHD Huston School of Film, National University of Ireland Galway; author of Gaelic Games on Film: From Silent Films, to Hollywood Hurling, Horror and the Emergence of Irish Cinema (Cork University Press, 2019); Sport and Film (Routledge, 2013); The Given Note: Traditional Music and Modern Irish Poetry (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008).